Gloucester Light !

I struggled to find a title for this post. It's a collection of photos from 2010 and a few recent ones. After I gathered these images I realized my selection process was influenced by the natural light this area is famous for.

Building clouds.

Good Harbor Beach footbridge.

Lobster boat "Dunlin" laying out a string of pots.

Gull in flight.

Healing over!

"Horizon" heading in to offload catch.

Old style row boat.

Skull and cross bones!

"Thomas E. Lannon" passes the Tarr & Wonson Paint Factory.

Sunset over the harbor.

US Navy..... locked and Loaded !

During the St. Peter's Fiesta Gloucester Harbor played host to the USS Oak Hill.
While I approached her I noticed an armed patrol boat that kept tabs of my every move. I made about a 500 yard orbit around the ship as the patrol boat followed me. It's not every day I have automatic weapons aimed at my direction!

The stats:
Displacement: 11,314 tons (light)
16,386 tons (full)
Length: 610 ft (190 m)
Beam: 84 ft (26 m)
Draft: 21 ft (6.4 m)
Propulsion: 4 Colt Industries, 16-cylinder diesel engines, 2 shafts, 33,000 shp (25 MW)
Speed: 20+ knots (37+ km/h)

Meanwhile I included some shots from around the waterfront.


The Massachusetts Environmental Police boat "Jessie".

My "escort" far left.

"USS Oak Hill"

Bow on.

Starboard bow.

Starboard profile.

Aft

In my wake.

Fishermen's Memorial

This sailboat takes a chance under full sail in the busy inner harbor!

Then decides to head back out!

Gulls on the bow.

Baiting up with racks of Skate.

"Capt. Joe" pulls away.

Fog bank on the Back Shore.

Look !

Look at this, fisheye photography without a fisheye lens. I had that feeling on the dock someone, or should I say something was watching me! One of the workers had a real fisheye and naturally I had to grab my camera.

Also on this post some pre St. Peter's Fiesta photos.


See!

An eye catcher!

Bug eye!

"Explorer II" and "Horizon" in the fog.

Halibut coming up.

The pretty face of a Monkfish!

Gulls on the Jodrey Fish Pier.

Boston fire boat "Howard W. Fitzpatrick" comes into Gloucester for repairs.

Singing gull! (The gull was singing a Yoko Ono number)

"Nina" during practice.

"Go that way"!

Vito wishing he was rowing.

Hanging out.

Itch!

Gloucester Fireworks 2011

With the fishing industry taking time off for the 4th of July weekend I finally had time to kick back and relax.....sort of.Instead of going to the Fishtown Horribles Parade on the 3rd I spent my time doing yard work. Hedges had to be trimmed,all 150' of them, lawn had to be mowed and my pond's filter had to be cleaned. Taking a break when the skies opened up with a passing T-storm, I had a gas grille that needed assembly. As the evening approached and after the storm passed I could hear the sound of distant marching bands and the sound of fireworks going off all around the city. That got me in the mood to watch some fireworks. So I headed up the hill behind my house to check them out. With trees getting bigger the view for the main show wasn't the best, but seeing fireworks going off in all parts of the city the view was special. The only thing that could ruin it was the skeeters, I was eat'n alive!

I'll omit the captions but will add that on the last image, I caught laser lights that passed towards the fireworks!

First Tuna(s) of the Season !

While I was on the Gloucester Seafood Display Auction dock the recreational vessel "Emma Drew III" pulled in after a 88 mile round trip from Gloucester to land two Atlantic Bluefin tuna. The 30 foot Grady White is smartly rigged to battle these giants that can swim as fast as 43 mph! Both fish were estimated in the 250-280lb range.

"Emma Drew III"

Hauling up a giant!

Drew and his dad Rob posing with their prize!

A good look at the gills.

Tuna #2

Picture time!

The crew